Once more we spent Christmas and New Year with Stuart,
Michelle and family at Rothbury in Northumberland. The weather throughout the north of England
was very wet with a lot of flooding.
Our local river burst its banks whilst we were there, but not sufficient
flooding to cause any serious damage.
We were very pleased to act as baby sitter for the
children, and particularly Chloe. Jan
was present for the birth, but this was the first time I saw her.
Michelle looks forward to opening the presents on Christmas
morning just as much as the children.
There were large stacks of presents and everyone was up bright and early
for the traditional opening.
Georgia loves opening the presents, and it does not matter
too much who they belong to. She did
quite well this year, because a few of Chloe’s present were too old for a five
month old. Georgia has offered to look
after them for her until she is old enough to play with them.
We see the family twice a year, and it is very difficult to
keep up with what type of toys they are currently interested in. Until recently Jack has been fascinated by
Mine Craft, but this Christmas it is suddenly Star Wars. He received a computer game, which kept him
occupied from Christmas through to the New Year. Both Jan and I had to attend for a detailed
instruction session. Half was through
her lesson Jan was dismissed, because one of Jack’s friends had arrived to play
against him on the computer.
But the centre of attention was Chloe. She is a very happy baby, always smiling and
loves being played with. Stuart throws
her all over the place, and the rougher the more she likes it.
She particularly likes this contraption, which allows her
to “stand” and jump up and down. Most
day’s we made time to watch her entertain herself, it was far more enjoyable
than the Christmas TV.
This one was taken on New Year’s Day, after (for us) a late
night celebrating the New Year. You can
see that everyone is feeling quite mellow and weary. It was a lovely holiday, and we were sorry
to leave them all. We were not so sorry
to leave the wet and grey weather and return to sunny Spain.